Kurio is the latest kid-friendly Android tablet

Kids are lucky these days. When I was growing up, I had to drag my Sega Genesis to my friend’s house and plug it into a 100-pound CRT television to play with electronics. Uphill, in the snow, barefoot, both ways. Now kids get apps and even entire tablets all to themselves. The latest contender for the pint-sized crown is the Kurio line of tablets from Inspiration Works. Pocket Lint reports that the 7, 8 and 10-inch tablets use a combination of custom software and (yes!) Google’s apps including the Android Market, running over Gingerbread. The tablets can manage profiles for up to eight children at a time.

Aside from the size and screen resolution, there isn’t much to distinguish the tablets from one another. The 7-inch model uses a standard 800×480 screen, the 8-inch model gets a 4:3 800×600 panel and the 10-incher gets 940×600. All of them include 2-megapixel rear cameras with a .3 camera on the front. 4GB will have to do for internal storage, though they can be augmented with MicroSD cards. Mum’s the word on the processor and memory, but the manufacturer says that the tablets are capable of 1080p HDMI playback and they’re preparing an Ice Cream Sandwich update, so presumably the internals have to be decent.

Keeping with the kid-friendly theme, big, spongy cases will be available for the Kurio tablets, the better to absorb an impact when they’re inevitably dropped on the kitchen tile. This is right in line with the Nabi tablet spotted at Toys R Us over the holidays. Headphones with a volume limit will also be available. The tablets are planned for a UK release in July, with no international plans at present. Prices for the 7, 8 and 10-inch versions are currenltly slated at £150, £180 and £200.